Where would you make spending savings in the Scottish Government (within farming and rural affairs) and its agencies?
We have consolidated inspections, so by 2011 there will be 7,000 fewer. We are also merging some rural and environment quangos as part of our public sector simplification programme. Spending decisions will depend on what Westminster allocates to the Scottish Government. How would you ensure Scotland’s voice is heard in negotiations in Europe? Scotland should be directly represented in Europe as a full member state of the EU. The Scottish Government maintains a presence in Brussels and participates in UK delegations, but Scottish Ministers can only speak when agreeing with the UK Government, despite disagreements over the CAP. In the European Parliament however, SNP MEPs can take a free line and have been praised by the Scottish farming industry. How will you work to ensure the Scottish Government gets its fair share of Defra’s animal health and welfare budget? We have been working constructively to devolve budgets in line with the Scudamore Review. We recognise the importance of constr
